Shingling hatchet



1966 A. s. E. REUTERFORS ,643

SHINGLING HATGHET Filed Aug. 19, 1963 United States Patent 3,233,643SHINGLING HATKJHET Aldor S. E. Reuterfors, Rockford, Ill., assignor toEstwing Manufacturing Company, Incorporated, Rockford, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 392,934 3 Claims.(Cl. 1453) This invention relates to a shingling tool having thereon acutter especially designed and adapted for cutting composition shinglesof the kind which conventionally contain asphalt or a similar pliablebinder. Such shingles can be cut by a knife and often are, and may becut by pulling or drawing this tool to perform a slitting action on theshingle.

The cutter is preferably mounted on a specially designed tool, similarin general shape of a conventional roofers hatchet, because the weightbalance and the long handle of such a hatchet conform advantageously tothe desired operating characteristics of this cutting tool, and thehammer on the tool is a convenience for the roofer.

Experience has taught that an ordinary knife blade or even a curvedknife blade, such as is used for cutting linoleum, is not well suitedfor convenient cutting along a straight line of such a material ascomposition roofing. Any such knife requires continuous downwardpressure, as it tends to climb out of a cut that has been started andthe effort to hold it in the cut often causes the knife to deviateinadvertently from the line.

I have discovered that a V-shaped cutter, such as this inventionprovides, can easily be drawn in a slitting action through compositionroofing, requires only a horizontal pull, and does not tend to climb outof a cut that has been once started, and therefore enables the operatorto devote his attention entirely to holding the cutter strictly to thedesired line, whether marked or not.

I have additionally discovered that this cutter, though subject to theabrasive action of some of the materials commonly found in compositionshingles, does not thereby become dulled but rather surprisingly, issharpened and resharpened by usage, and this action continues until theprotruding end of the cutter is completely Worn out.

Another advantage inherent in this V-shaped cutter is that it can bestarted accurately and easily to cut a straight line from a selectedpoint, much more easily than can be accomplished with an ordinarypointed knife lade.

The general object of this invention is to provide the foregoingadvantages in a cutter for composition shingles and like material.

Another object is to provide a cutter and a holder therefor adapted forconvenient adjustment of the cutter for use with shingles of variousthicknesses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and unique cutterwhich can be combined advantageously with a tool which additionallycarries a hammer head.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cutter uniquely adaptednot only for starting a cutting operation from the edge of a shingle,but which can be inserted into the shingle remotely from its edge andreadily enters and remains engaged with the shingle.

Another object is to provide a cutter and a holder therefor in which anadjoining surface on the cutter may be employed as a guide forcontacting a surface adjacent the area being or to be cut.

()ther objects and advantages of the invention will be mentionedhereinafter, or will become apparent in this specification.

In. the drawing, FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the shingling tool ofthis invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the tool in the act of cuttinga shingle.

FIG. 3 is a partial elevational view of the cutter mounted on the toolblade, viewed from the side opposite the mounting side.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the cutter alone.

FIG. 5 is an end or edge elevation of the cutter and its mounting.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the cutter, as seen from line 6-6 of MG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of FIG. 4.

In the drawing, there is shown a handle conventional for hammers andhatchets having an enlarge-d rubber composition grip ll and a steelshank 12, on which is integrally formed a hammer head 13 and asimulation 14 of a roofers hatchet blade.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, the lowermost edge 15 of the blade 14 isthick, well rounded, and evidently not intended for cutting. This edgelies parallel to, in fact, in the plane of the longitudinal center lineof the handle.

The forward edge portion 16 of the lower end of the hatchet bladesimulation depends or extends furthest from the hammer head, while theedge 16 rearwardly thereof curves upwardly toward the handle as appearsin FIG. 1. Right adjacent the forward edge portion 16 is securedflatwise to the side of the hatchet blade the cutter, generallyindicated as 17. The V-shaped cutting notch has an angle greater thanand, preferably about with the lower leg 18 of the notch well below thehatchet edge. The apex 19 of the notch is sufliciently below the hatchetedge that when a shingle is being cut, it will not tend to ride up onthe upper leg 21 of the notch and bind against the hatchet edge, causingan unnecessary amount of drag or friction thereby.

The bottom edge 22 of the cutter may on some occasions act as a shoe,riding on some underlying surface, if any. The exposed depending portion23 of the cutter also may act as a lateral guide during trimming a roofmargin, as suggested in FIG. 2, where it is shown guiding the tool alongthe margin of an underlying shingle.

The sharp point 24 will have no function when a shingle cut is startedat the edge of a shingle. But, if it is necessary to start the cut somedistance inwardly from the edge of the shingle, this sharp point 24 mayreadily be inserted or punched into the shingle and, after it hasentered, the inclined sharpened edge 18 will take over and cause thecutter to move downwardly into the shingle until the apex 19 becomesmore or less centered between the top and bottom surfaces of theshingle.

To secure the cutter, a screw 25 may be inserted, as shown, through theslot 26 into the uppermost of three tapped holes in the hatchet blade.Another screw 27 with a knurled head may be passed through slot 26 andthreaded through the lowermost tapped hole in the hatchet blade and isscrewed into a knurled threaded collar 28. As eXplained later, screw 27and its collar 28 serve also as a gauge element.

The cutter is firmly clamped fiatwise to the hatchet blade, and may beadjusted upwardly or downwardly, as desired to accommodate shingles ofvarious thicknesses. As is apparent, this cutter is shaped identicallyat both ends, so that when one end is worn out, it may be reversed andthe other end used.

The combination of the large screw 27 and its attached collar 28 servesalso as a convenient measure from the top of hammer 13 (usually 5inches) for spacing the lower edges of overlapping shingles. Preferably,the three tapped holes are one-half inch apart. When the lower screw 27is located as shown, the distance from the hammer top to the screw 27 isfive inches. By moving screw 27 up to the intermediate tapped hole 29the measure is reduced to four and one-half inches, while it may bereduced to four inches by placing screw 27 in the top hole.

As said before, this cutter does not become dull. 6 indicates that thecutting edge within the notches is ground at equal angles from a medianplane centrally of the thickness of the blade. This not only contributesto the self sharpening effect, but also helps the cutter to travel in astraight line when that is desired and to follow the handle, whichpreferably is of about conventional length for hammers, that is, about11 inches, although such length is not critical.

In the operation of the device, when it is desired to cut a shingle,starting from an edge thereof, the operator first engages the curvededge lid with the top surface of the shingle and, as he draws the cuttertoward the edge to be cut, he may rock the tool on its curved edge 16until the apex of the cutting notch preferably is aligned to contact theedge of the shingle. Absolute preliminary accuracy in this matter is notessential, however, as the cutter will naturally line up that same waywith the shingle, if the operator does not prevent it from doing so, asthe notch will tend to center on the shingle.

To start a cut inwardly from the edge of a shingle, the operator merelyinserts the sharp point 24- of the cutter into the shingle and pulls onthe handle as the notched cutter moves into the shingle.

The cutter, being vertically adjustable on the hatchet, the operator mayraise or lower it as desired, to accommodate shingles of differentthickness.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention herein, it should berecognized that some modifications and variations of the invention maybe devised without departing, however, from the scope of the inventiondefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shingling tool comprising, an elongated handle having a rear handgrip portion and a blade portion extending laterally from the forwardend thereof and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane through thelongitudinal centerline of the handle, the blade portion having aforward edge and a rear edge and a noncutting end edge at the outer endthereof remote from the handle, a cutter member attached to said bladeportion and having a thin fiat end portion extending outwardly from saidend edge of the blade portion, said flat end portion of said cuttermember being disposed generally parallel to said plane through thecenterline of the handle and having a forward edge and a rear edge and aV-shaped notch in its rear edge facing rearwardly toward the handleportion, the rear edge of said end portion of the cutter member beingspaced forwardly a substantial distance from the rear edge of said bladeportion and the apex of said notch being spaced outwardly from saidnoncutting edge, said notch defining an angle of substantiallygreaterthan 90 and having a first sharpened edge inclined outwardly fromsaid non-cutting edge in a direcr tion toward the forward edge of thecutter member to urge a shingle being cut away from the non-cutting edgeof the blade portion toward the apex of the notch and a second sharpenededge extending from the apex of the notch outwardly to said rear edge ofthe end portion of the cutter member in a direction to guide a shinglebeing cut inwardly of said end portion toward the apex of the notch.

2. A shinglin tool comprising, an elongated handle having a rear handgrip portion and a blade portion extending laterally from the forwardend thereof and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane through theiongitudinal centerline of the handle, the blade portion having aforward edge and a rear edge and a non-cutting end edge at the outer endthereof remote from the handle, a cutter member attached to said bladeportion and having a thin flat end portion extending outwardly from saidend edge of the blade portion, said flat end portion of said cuttermember being disposed generally parallel to said plane through thecenterline of the handle and having a forward edge and a rear edge and aV-shaped notch in its rear edge facing rearwardly toward the handleportion, the rear edge of said end portion of the cutter member beingspaced forwardly a substantial distance from the rear edge of said bladeportion and the apex of said notch being spaced outwardly from saidnon-cutting edge, said notch defining an angle of about and having afirst sharpened edge inclined outwardly from said non-cutting edge in adirection toward the forward edge of the cutter member to urge a shinglebeing cut away from the non-cutting edge of the blade portion toward theapex of the notch and a second sharpened edge extending from the apex ofthe notch outwardly to said rear edge of the end portion of the cuttermember in a direction to guide a shingle being cut inwardly of said endportion toward the apex of the notch.

3. In a shingling tool comprising, an elongated handle having a rearhand grip portion and a support portion extending laterally from theforward end thereof, sai support portion having a forward edge and arear edge and end edge laterally offset a substantial distance to oneside of the handle, a cutter member attached to said support portion andhaving a thin flat end portion extending outwardly from said end edge ofthe support portion, said flat end portion of said cutter member beingdisposed in a plane generally parallel to a plane through the centerlineof the handle and having a forward edge and a rear edge, said rear edgeof the cutter member being spaced forwardly from said rear edge of saidsupport portion and having a rearwardly facing V-shaped notch in itsrear edge, the apex of the notch spaced outwardly from said end edge ofthe support member, said notch having an included angle of about 120,the line that bisects that angle extending generally parallel to thelengthwise axis of the handle, the edges of the notch being sharpenedfor cutting.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 832,962 10/1906Fellows. 1,195,822 8/1916 Kintzel 30317 X 2,500,629 3/1950 Crookston -32,589,128 3/1952 Podjaski.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,218,889 12/1959 France.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON S. MEI-IR, Examiner.

1. A SHINGLING TOOL COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED HANDLE HAVING A REAR HANDGRIP PORTION AND A BLADE PORTION EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE FORWARDEND THEREOF AND DISPOSED IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO THE PLANE THROUGH THELONGITUDINAL CENTERLINE OF THE HANDLE, THE BLADE PORTION HAVING AFORWARD EDGE AND A REAR EDGE AND A NON-CUTTING END EDGE AT THE OUTER ENDTHEREOF REMOTE FROM THE HANDLE, A CUTTER MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID BLADEPORTION AND HAVING A THIN FLAT END PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAIDEND EDGE OF THE BLADE PORTION, SAID FLAT END PORTION OF SAID CUTTERMEMBER BEING DISPOSED GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLANE THROUGH THECENTERLINE OF THE HANDLE AND HAVING A FORWARD EDGE AND A REAR EDGE AND AV-SHAPED NOTCH IN ITS REAR EDGE FACING REARWARDLY TOWARD THE HANDLEPORTION, THE REAR EDGE OF SAID END PORTION OF THE CUTTER MEMBER BEINGSPACED FORWARDLY A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE FROM THE REAR EDGE OF SAID BLADEPORTION AND THE APEX OF SAID NOTCH BEING SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM SAIDNONCUTTING EDGE, SAID NOTCH DEFINING AN ANGLE OF SUBSTANTIALLY GREATERTHAN 90* AND HAVING A FIRST SHARPENED EDGE INCLINED OUTWARDLY FROM SAIDNON-CUTTING EDGE IN A DIRECTION TOWARD THE FORWARD EDGE OF THE CUTTERMEMBER TO URGE A SHINGLE BEING CUT AWAY FROM THE NON-CUTTING EDGE OF THEBLADE PORTION TOWARD THE APEX OF THE NOTCH AND A SECOND SHARPENED EDGEEXTENDING FROM THE APEX OF THE NOTCH OUTWARDLY TO SAID REAR EDGE OF THEEND PORTION OF THE CUTTER MEMBER IN A DIRECTION TO GUIDE A SHINGLE BEINGCUT INWARDLY OF SAID END PORTION TOWARD THE APEX OF THE NOTCH.